JOELTON, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Police released a statement following the incident at the youth football game in Joelton: "In the video provided to the MNPD, a gun cannot distinctively be identified, although the manner in which the man holds his hand in the phanny pack is consistent with such. The man identified as a suspect denied having a gun in when contacted by a North Precinct detective. Witnesses reported that the man pulled a gun halfway out of the phanny pack at one point. The persons involved in the confrontation with the man at the time this occurred have told our detective that they do not wish to prosecute. No charges have been placed. That could change if anyone involved comes forward wishing to prosecute."
Parents say police ended up getting called to the youth football field at the Joelton Community Club off Old Clarksville Pike on Saturday, in the latest case across the country of a parent's rage at a child's football game escalating into much more.
It happened at the junior football game between the Greenbrier Bobcats and Joelton Vikings.
In the video shot by a parent, you can see a man in a brown hoodie, who the league president says was also a parent, charging the field:
At that point, Terry Dean, President of the Middle Tennessee Junior Football League, says the man was ejected, but he nonetheless returns to the field at the end of the game, captured in a different video clip:
In that video, you can see the same man in the brown hoodie trying to pull something out of a bag he's carrying, and someone in the crowd shouts "he's got a gun!"
It's not clear in the video that parents provided NewsChannel 5 whether there was a gun in the bag, but Dean says the commotion it created is undeniable.
"To see the kids around that situation, all of a sudden you hear everyone in the video say he's got a gun in the bag, that was gutwrenching," Dean said.
Dean says he's been involved with the Junior Football League for years and has never seen the kind of behavior from parents now seen across the country.
"Parents nowadays are just more brash, they feel they can come on the field for any reason at all," Dean said. "We've got to get a hold of that, in every area."
Later in the video, someone Dean identifies as a coach walks away from the field with the bag the first man was carrying.
Dean says the Greenbrier league has expelled the parent for the season and put the entire team on probation, with potentially more sanctions to come.
"They're very serious about it," Dean said. "I got a phone call from the commissioner, and his comment to me was at this moment they're fixing to cancel their entire season."
All as the president of the league wonders, at kids' sports games across the country, how we got to this point.
"The minute we start having more integrity and character about our program rather than winning at all cost, maybe we'll see something happen," Dean said.
NewsChannel 5 has reached out to Metro Police to see if any charges will be filed as a result of what happened Saturday.
The league president says for the upcoming playoffs and super bowl, every host site will have uniformed security officers on site — something the entire board will soon vote on whether or not to make permanent starting next season.
